Page 98 of Finding Victory

30

Kit

Two Weeks To Go

Tina stands at her kitchen counter and pours Cap’n Crunch into a bowl and drowns it with milk. “So where do you want to look first?”

I walk past Evie and tickle the back of her neck. “I dunno… I’ve never really had to shop for dresses like this before.”

Tina rolls her eyes playfully. “I have. I’ll help you. In town, or in the city?”

“City. There’s nothing here. I already looked. There’s especially nothing that’ll work for Iz. We need boutiques that’ll give her a basketball smuggling pocket, and Tink needs some place that’ll alter the length. No one around here does all that.”

“Actually,” Iz looks up with an odd expression, “I think I’m gonna call Jim and cancel.” She sits back and rubs her six month belly. “I feel gross. I feel huge and uncomfortable and just… exhausted. I don’t wanna go.”

“Girl, go!” Tina passes a bowl of cereal to Evie. “If a finebottomedman like Jimmy asked me to a black-tie dinner, you bet your ass I’d be shaking my tailfeather to get there.”

“But it’s only a pity date, Tina. Like brother and sister.” She scrunches her face. “He’s taking me out of tradition and obligation. Because this is what we’ve always done, but I don’t wanna play that game anymore. I’m too damn tired to go, I don’t have the energy to pretend I’m okay. And I’m definitely not interested innotriding home with him because he left with someone else.”

“He would never!”

“He would. He has!”

“No.” Tink looks away from the coffee machine and crosses her arms. “Nope. I’m calling bullshit.”

“Call it what you want. He ditched me at his last title fight. He took off to celebrate, and I stood there like an idiot waiting for him to come back.”

“He stranded you?” I lift my brow with disbelief. “Bullshit.”

“Well, no, because he knew the other guys were there. It’s not like I had to walk home or anything, but still. He did the press conference, then ditched. I didn’t see him again until the next day – late in the afternoon!” She pops her hip like she just presented damning evidence. “Despite our… decision…” she chews on the word for a moment, “ourdecisionto stay friends, there might never be anything for us, but I can’t stand by and watch him leave with someone else. I just… no. I can’t do that.”

“Babe,” I step forward slowly, “there’s no way in hell he’d do that. And if you think he would, then you don’t know your best friend very well. I don’t know what he did at that other fight, but he didn’t leave with another girl.”

She shrugs disbelievingly.

“How about we look for a dress, anyway? Then we’ll see what happens. Don’t rule it out yet, that’s all I’m saying. Okay?” I desperately hope she does come. She’s getting so close to her whole world changing – that baby will be here before we know it, and God knows when she’ll next have the chance to get dressed up. “Come out for a nice night with the girls. It might be your last chance for a while.”

She takes a long drag of air and closes her eyes. “Fine, we’ll look. But I make no promises.” She wants to go. She’s just scared.

“But I mean, if you don’t want to go…” Tina laughs and taps Izzy’s shoulders as she passes to the fridge, “I’ll go. I’d be quite… interested… in spending an evening with a bunch of fighters.”

Tink’s eyes snap up suspiciously. “Who’s Aiden taking?”

I shrug. “Dunno. He hasn’t said.”

“Is Aiden another brother? I thought there was only three…”

“There is. Jon isn’t a Kincaid. He’s my brother,” Izzy reminds her. “There’s Bobby,” Izzy points at me, “her husband. There’s Jimmy. The guy who taught Evie to swear.” She pastes on a fake smile and avoids the more specific love drama. “Then in between those two is Aiden.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen him around…” Her face colors. “Is he hot?”

“Yep.” Iz, Tink, and I answer as one.

“He’s quiet,” Tink says. “That’s why you haven’t seen him around. He’s a homebody.” She grins. “But I thought you weren’t interested in dating…”

Tina scoffs. “I’m not, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a good-looking man. And since the other three are taken, it would be against girl code for me to think of them on cold nights.” She wiggles her brows dramatically. “Actually, I met a guy…”

“What?”

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